Bennigan's Beefsteak

Today one of my lab mates brought a Bennigan's Beefsteak - an instant hamburger steak in tomato sauce, to be heated in a water bath or microwave. While heating you are rewarded with a mouth watering smell of tomato and spices. The more disappointing is the opening of the bag: a yellowish brownish blob of meat which, i dare to say, likely never saw a frypan up close. The tomato sauce was OK - better then ketchup, but nothing special. The first two things noticed when testing the meat was the lack of any crispiness or frying aroma and even worse, a consistency of a tofu sausage.

If somebody would have told me the i'm eating Tofu at that time, i would have believed it. The total absence of meat aroma made me check the package if there was indeed beef inside. And guess what... there is beef inside!!! stunning 50%. Now my korean isn't good enough to decipher the other ingredients but my guess is that the majority is either pork meat, tofu or bread.
The last nail in the coffin is a price of about 3000 korean won.

Verdict: Not even worth trying.

Beijing, random thoughts

We have been to Beijing with my parents. Just two nights over the last weekend and its was quite interesting. Our objective was not to become experts on China but just to get a small glimpse of Beijing. And here the total random, subjective and (honestly) pretty useless first impressions gathered in Beijing:

There are graffiti in china
Chinese like fences
Many foreign and especially german cars
Driving on highways seems very stress free
Driving speed is rather slow
Few bicycles without additional motor
Crossing the trafic as pedestrian is DEFINITELY not safe
Chinese don't push in crowds as much as koreans
Still many bicycle roads
Most pedestrian overpasses have flat ramps, allowing cyclist to cross easily
Pizza hut in china is salty but quite tasty
Don't go with a guided tour if you want to go to nice restaurants
Vegetables in dishes are by western standards nearly uncooked
Rain is a blessing, otherwise a lot dust in the air
The forbidden city is just big, but the summer palace is very beautiful
So many koreans in china
Shops close early, by korean standard
Milk seems to be generally absolutely horrible
Some very good yoghurts

Yes or No

Yes or No

Kissed any one of your Facebook friends?— no
Been arrested? — no
Kissed someone you didn’t like? — no
Slept in until 5 PM? — yes
Fallen asleep at work/school? — yes
Held a snake? — yes
Ran a red light? — no with car, yes with bike
Been suspended from school? — no
Experienced love at first sight? — no
Totaled your car in an accident? — no
Been fired from a job? — no
Fired somebody? — no
Sang karaoke? — yes - wont happen again :p
Pointed a gun at someone? — no
Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? — no
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? — yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? — yes
Kissed in the rain? — yes
Had a close brush with death (your own)? — yes
Seen someone die? — yes
Played spin-the-bottle? — no
Sang in the shower? — no
Smoked a cigar? — no
Sat on a rooftop? — yes
Taken pictures of yourself nekkid? — no
Smuggled something into another country? — yes
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? — no
Broken a bone? — no
Skipped school? — dont remember well but think not
Eaten a bug? — yes - long live korean food ^^
Sleepwalked? — no
Walked a moonlit beach? — yes
Rode a motorcycle? — no
Dumped someone? — no
Forgotten your anniversary? — no
Lied to avoid a ticket? — no
Ridden on a helicopter? — no
Shaved your head? — no
Blacked out from drinking? — no
Played a prank on someone? — yes
Hit a home run? — no
Felt like killing someone? — ohhhh yes
Cross-dressed? — no
Been falling-down drunk? — no
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? — yes
Eaten snake? — no
Marched/Protested? — yes
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? — no
Puked on amusement ride? — no
Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? — yes
Been in a band? — no
Knitted? — yes - in elementary school
Been on TV? — no
Shot a gun? — no, but likely every thing else you can shoot ^^
Skinny-dipped? — yes
Gave someone stitches? — no
Eaten a whole habanero pepper? — yes
Ridden a surfboard? — no
Drank straight from a liquor bottle? — no
Had surgery? — no
Streaked? — no
Taken by ambulance to hospital? — no
Tripped on mushrooms? — no
Passed out when not drinking? — yes
Peed on a bush? — no, we always had enough trees
Donated Blood? — no
Grabbed electric fence? — yes
Eaten alligator meat? — yes
Eaten cheesecake? — yes
Eaten your kids’ Halloween candy? — no, why if you have kids?
Killed an animal when not hunting? — no
Peed your pants in public? — no
Snuck into a movie without paying? — no
Written graffiti? — no
Still love someone you shouldn’t? — no
Think about the future? — yes
Been in handcuffs? — no
Believe in love? — yes!!!

with hat tip to http://sungnyemun.org/wordpress/

Copy, Answer, Re-Post.

Food On Air

My wife left me... to go to beijing for 3 days for an internship. Luckily she came back ^^ and even better is that when she came back i could pick her up at the Incheon airport and had a bit time to eat diner there. Of course i was most happy to see my wife again but the food was nearly as good.

In the basement of the airport are a few restaurants, some better some worse. Around the elevators / escalators are a few restaurants called Food On Air. They are separated into Studio 1, Studio 2 and Snacks (at least if i'm not mistaken). The one which offers Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and Italian food is the one you absolutely have to try ( i think its Studio 1).

I went there only twice but until now i had there the best thai food i ever tried in korea and the pizza is also at least under the best 3. In other words its just awesome. I can absolutely recommend the Pizza Margeritha and the Cashew stir fried chicken. The pizza has a medium thin crust a bit Napoli style, plenty of fresh tasting tomato sauce as well fresh and juicy mozzarella. The size is apropiate for one person. The stir fried chicken is very tender, with a lot mixed vegetables, cashews and just the right sauce: not to plain, to greasy, to spicy...  just right. It is served with rice and (the only strange thing so far) something they claim is naan.

Now there is certainly no shortage of good restaurants in seoul but to find one offering authentic italian and thai food is definitely rare. and now comes the kicker: it's actually affordable!!!  A Pizza Margherita for 10.000 won or a stir fired chicken for 11.500 won plus tax. If you look around in seoul the price is even still fair if you consider the subway fare to and from Incheon ^^ however spending 3 hours in the subway might be not the best idea for a date.

in other words, if you ever happen to be at Incheon airport and have some time, do yourself a favor and try Food On Air

Stir fried chicken with cashew nuts. A real treat, fair priced and large enough serving. 

 

Edit: Apparently Food On Air closes early.... We learned that yesterday the hard way: with an empty stomach. At 9.30pm they were already closed, with no opening times announced. Generally the food situation at Incheon Airport after 9pm seems to be less then great. Whats basically left is fast-food.

63 Building

I wanted to share these two pics of the 63 Building in Seoul. You can visit the top floor and use the observation platform there, the view is nice but frankly i think the building is more interesting from the outside and 'shines' when in the right light. 

On hazy days the building looks not really special (somehow the golden windows + haze look cheap to me). But with the right light its very nice and shiny.